At a time when most states are enacting large remote online notarization bills, the Show-Me State overhauled its paper notarization and electronic notarization laws and added remote online notarization provisions in House Bill 1655.
As part of the most comprehensive Notary reform of any state in decades, Missouri created new notarial certificate forms when the law took effect on August 28, 2020. Notaries must use certificates that are "substantially similar" to these forms to comply with the new state law.
Under RSMo 486.740, a notarial certificate must be in a form that:
- Is set forth for that act in RSMo 486
- Is otherwise prescribed for that act by the laws of Missouri
- Is prescribed for that act by a law, regulation, or custom of another jurisdiction, provided it does not require actions by the Notary that are unauthorized by the laws of Missouri
- Describes the actions of the Notary in such a manner as to meet the requirements of the particular notarial act
These certificates must be worded and completed using only letters, characters, and a language that are read, written and understood by the Notary.
New Missouri certificate forms
The new certificates are available on the Secretary of State website and our Missouri certificate forms are 2020 compliant for the following acts:
- Acknowledgments
- Jurats
- Signature witnessings (newly authorized act)
- Copy certifications
- Copy certifications of a paper printout of an electronic record (newly authorized act)
To learn more about the new certificates, please read the Missouri Notary Handbook or visit the NNA Law Updates database.
NNA member benefit
To help Notaries meet the new requirements, these certificates are available for free to NNA members. To access them, login to your member profile at NationalNotary.org and click "Notary Certificate Forms" under the Quick Links menu on the right. Then select "Missouri" from the drop-down menu to download your forms.
Rachel Fraser is the Content Marketing Specialist at the National Notary Association.
